Relevant to the learner’s world Responsive to the learner’s needs Related to other learning and other learners
Rich Learning
Looks like
Children working in different ways sometimes as a whole class, sometimes in small groups, sometimes individually but always actively involved in the process of learning, finding out, recording, reporting, sharing, thinking, writing, reading, talking, listening, editing, publishing, displaying
Teachers taking a variety of roles – instructor, organiser, mentor, discoverer, resource, critical friend, editor, publisher
Community as a resource – parents, grandparents, other children, other teachers involved in sharing the learning journey
Sounds like
At times quiet, at times constructively noisy, interesting snippets of conversations, funny comments, lots of ‘did you knows’ and ‘listen to this’.
Feels like
An interesting place to be – stimulating displays of children’s work, children inviting other children, other teachers, parents to be part of their learning, a warm and welcoming environment.
How can teachers enrich learning?
Most effective learning occurs when teachers:
develop children's thinking (De Bono 1976)
support children's information processing (Bloom 1985)
help children 'own' their learning through negotiated curriculum (Boomer 1982)
use language as the fundamental learning tool (Holiday 1985)
structure opportunities for active learning (Piaget 1950)
enable children to learn from and with other learners (1/3)gotsky 1978)
make learning holistic for children (Cambourne 1988)
create real learning contexts for children (Beane 1991, 1995)
Rich learning occurs when teachers create classroom environments and learning structures that incorporate these understandings.
For teachers, organising for rich learning occurs through: Curriculum integration:
Bringing together elements of different learning areas that are related To support Purposeful inquiry into ‘big picture issues:
Focussing curriculum integration around an issue that is relevant to the chidren and responsive to their immediate future needs Through Literacies across the curriculum:
Using the ‘big picture’ issue as a context for the development and application of text, visual, computer, social and political literacies across the integrated areas of the curriculum
What is Authentic Assessment?
Authentic assessment encourages learners to demonstrate their learning in a manner which is similar to the ways learning is demonstrated in the wider world.
Class tests and quizzes, worksheets and multiple choice are not authentic although may be valid for ascertaining the degree to which an outcome has been achieved.
Authentic assessment involves an integrated approach using skills, knowledge and values from a number of outcomes and content areas.
Authentic assessment requires some form of action by learners (self direction rather than teacher direction) and some form of reflection by learners on the progress of their learning. Additionally it can be argued that authentic assessment requires a focus on complex, higher order thinking skills and cooperative learning and that students produce, not reproduce knowledge.
Authentic assessment is seen to better prepare learners for lifelong learning and a world of constant change. It also provides a better way to manage assessment for a multitude of outcomes. In Queensland the term 'Rich Task' is used to refer to authentic assessment. These tasks are directed to having real world value and are intended to encourage productive pedagogies strategies such as active citizenship, higher-order thinking, substantive conversation, depth of knowledge and problem-based curriculum.
Rich Learning is:
Relevant to the learner’s world
Responsive to the learner’s needs
Related to other learning and other learners
Rich Learning
How can teachers enrich learning?
Most effective learning occurs when teachers:
- develop children's thinking (De Bono 1976)
- support children's information processing (Bloom 1985)
- access children's multiple intelligences (Gardner 1 983, 1995)
- help children 'own' their learning through negotiated curriculum (Boomer 1982)
- use language as the fundamental learning tool (Holiday 1985)
- structure opportunities for active learning (Piaget 1950)
- enable children to learn from and with other learners (1/3)gotsky 1978)
- make learning holistic for children (Cambourne 1988)
- create real learning contexts for children (Beane 1991, 1995)
Rich learning occurs when teachers create classroom environments and learning structures that incorporate these understandings.For teachers, organising for rich learning occurs through:
Curriculum integration:
Bringing together elements of different learning areas that are related
To support
Purposeful inquiry into ‘big picture issues:
Focussing curriculum integration around an issue that is relevant to the chidren and responsive to their immediate future needs
Through
Literacies across the curriculum:
Using the ‘big picture’ issue as a context for the development and application of text, visual, computer, social and political literacies across the integrated areas of the curriculum
What is Authentic Assessment?
Authentic assessment encourages learners to demonstrate their learning in a manner which is similar to the ways learning is demonstrated in the wider world.
Class tests and quizzes, worksheets and multiple choice are not authentic although may be valid for ascertaining the degree to which an outcome has been achieved.
Authentic assessment involves an integrated approach using skills, knowledge and values from a number of outcomes and content areas.
Authentic assessment requires some form of action by learners (self direction rather than teacher direction) and some form of reflection by learners on the progress of their learning. Additionally it can be argued that authentic assessment requires a focus on complex, higher order thinking skills and cooperative learning and that students produce, not reproduce knowledge.
Authentic assessment is seen to better prepare learners for lifelong learning and a world of constant change. It also provides a better way to manage assessment for a multitude of outcomes. In Queensland the term 'Rich Task' is used to refer to authentic assessment. These tasks are directed to having real world value and are intended to encourage productive pedagogies strategies such as active citizenship, higher-order thinking, substantive conversation, depth of knowledge and problem-based curriculum.